((Total cop out. This is actually a scene from a story that I'll probably never finish, so take it for what it's worth, which is nothing, lol. Um, I get told more often than not that I don't write enough angst. That is because I do not know how, okay?!))
Barnaby is still annoyed when he pulls into Kotetsu’s driveway. He has no problem reporting to Kotetsu when it comes to work, but he draws the line at his personal affairs. What Barnaby does in his free time and who he does it with is none of Kotetsu’s business. Kotetsu hired Barnaby to protect his wife and daughter and Barnaby takes his job seriously. Demanding that he leave Tomoe and Kaede with inadequate protection to accompany Kotetsu on a business deal was not only stupid, it wasn’t in his job description.
Barnaby glances at the clock on the dash and sighs. Three minutes after midnight. He’d been looking forward to Tomoe’s cooking lesson and to helping Kaede with her school project. These were the things that should have been interesting to Kotetsu, but lately it seems all Kotetsu is interested in is finding various ways to cock-block him.
And to be honest, the shit is getting really old.
Barnaby pulls the key out of the ignition and does the same. He doesn’t want to hang out at Kotetsu’s place. Hell, he doesn’t even want to see the other man’s face. He just wants to go home. Maybe he can call Nicholas and see if he can smooth things over with him. But he can’t imagine Nicholas will be eager to forgive him after getting a black eye while in the middle of sucking his cock.
When he reaches the front porch, Barnaby sits down on the top step and stares up at the sky. He owes a lot to Kotetsu. Sure, Kotetsu lured him toward a life of crime, but he also made sure that Barnaby went to school. And when he graduated, Kotetsu was right there with Tomoe and Kaede, cheering for him and shouting his name when he walked across the stage, degree in hand.
Barnaby feels Kotetsu’s eyes on him, but Kotetsu says nothing. Instead, Barnaby hears Kotetsu’s keys as he pulls them out of his pocket.
“What the fuck?”
“What’s wrong?” Barnaby asks. He turns to face Kotetsu who has just opened the front door.
“The damn door was unlocked.” Kotetsu shakes his head. “I told Kaede about leaving the fucking door unlocked like this.” He shoves the door open so hard that it slams against the wall behind it. “Tomoe! Kaede! What did I say about this door?!”
Barnaby rolls his eyes and sighs. Maybe it’s time he started down a new path, one that didn’t involve Kotetsu and his family so much.
“Where the hell are you two?” Kotetsu says as he moves further into the house. He peers into the kitchen and notices that the patio light is on along with the radio. He sighs and makes his way to the back door. “You do know someone could have walked right in and taken all of our stuff,” he says as he opens the door. “I keep telling you two to stop—”
And then he sees them.
And his heart rips in half.
Because he doesn’t know who to run to first.
And so Kotetsu screams.
“Tomoe!” He dives into the pool, and it doesn’t matter that he’s still fully dressed. Or that his suit cost more than most people’s complete wardrobe. Or that his tie is custom made and the only one of its kind. He swims to her, winding his arms, kicking his legs, splashing water about to reach her. And when he does, she’s cold.
So unnaturally cold.
“Oh, god! No!” Kotetsu cries and pulls Tomoe toward the edge of the pool. “Please, Tomoe… Tomoe… No, no, no. Bunny!” His hands are shaking, trembling as he lifts Tomoe out of the water and pushes her onto the cemented ground surrounding the pool. He’s out of the water in an instant, clothes drenched and sticking to his skin. “Please, God…”
His wife, his beautiful Tomoe is lying on her back. Her eyes are closed and she’s blue. Dear fucking God she’s blue and cold and heavy and not smiling. She’s not greeting Kotetsu or flirting with him or hitting him with a dish towel or wooden spoon for being late or tracking dirt on the floors. She’s lying there quiet and motionless and…
…dead.
But Kotetsu shakes her anyway, brushes her beautiful wet hair away from her face, and begs her to wake up. And now he can barely see her because the pool water has trickled from his hair into his eyes, only it’s not pool water at all. It’s his tears and they’re falling hard and fast and dripping onto his young wife who’ll never again tell him that she loves him.
He buries his face into chest and grabs the front of her dress, bunches it into his fists and sobs because she was his everything and she’d gone, left without him, left him alone and he needs her. He needs her now more than anything.
“Tomoe… wake up…”
When Barnaby hears Kotetsu scream, he’s up and running through the house as fast as his legs will carry him. When he reaches the back patio, he stands frozen in disbelief. He sees Kotetsu lying half over Tomoe, sees his body shake as he sobs and calls his wife’s name, and then he spots Kaede lying next to one of the patio chairs. The pavement below her is wet, dark, and reminds Barnaby of an oil stain. But the liquid below Kaede isn’t oil.
It’s blood.
Barnaby runs over to Kaede and crouches down. He turns his head, presses his ear against her chest, and listens. He tries to ignore pounding of his own heart, not wanting to confuse it with Kaede’s. He holds his breath, pays no attention to the wetness leaking from his eyes and dripping onto his glasses.
It’s faint, but he hears it. She’s still breathing, still alive. Barnaby shoves his hand into his pocket, pulls out his cellphone, and dials 9-1-1. He interrupts the emergency response woman the moment she begins to speak. He tries to speak calmly, tries to pretend that the annoying lisp isn’t there when he’s giving her the Kaburagi’s home address. He’s directed not to move her and to wait for both the paramedics and the police to arrive.
Barnaby has to try several times to speak after the call has ended. “K-Kotetsu.”
Kotetsu’s still clinging to Tomoe, still sobbing softly, his face and lips cold from being pressed against Tomoe’s frigid skin.
“Kotetsu,” Barnaby says again, louder this time, more urgent.
“You’re daughter isn’t,” Barnaby replies. “And she needs you.”
Kotetsu’s still crying silently when he releases Tomoe’s hand and walks away from her. He kneels to the ground and the tears fall even more when he sees his daughter, his baby girl, covered in blood. He squeezes her hand and begs her to fight, to stay with him.
“Can you hear me, Kaede,” Kotetsu says through choked sobs. “This is daddy. You have to stay with me. You… you have to. Please…” Kotetsu shakes his head, unable to imagine losing both his wife and daughter in one night. “Please don’t leave daddy.”
The sound of sirens blaring grows closer and closer until Barnaby sees flashing lights and hears doors shut. He reaches down and pulls Kotetsu to his feet and out of the way while the paramedics go about checking Kaede’s vitals and getting her strapped onto a gurney. When they begin to wheel her away, Kotetsu rushes behind them. Barnaby isn’t far behind, but he’s stopped by two police officers who want to question him.
“Do you have any idea who might have done this?” one of the officer’s asks. His dark brown eyes are red and squinted like he’s staring up at the sun. “Does the family have any enemies that you know of?”
“No,” Barnaby lies. Kotetsu probably has more enemies than friends, but that’s none of the cop’s business. Whoever did this, Barnaby would find them and take care of them himself.
The cop continues to ask questions even when the coroner arrives. Barnaby has to turn away when Tomoe is placed into a body bag. His eyes tear up once more and he can’t take anymore of the cop’s annoying, pointless, questions.
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Barnaby says. He shakes his head and begins to walk off, only stopping once to accept the officer’s card. He agrees to call the small eyed cop if he can think of anything that would help the case, but he has no plans of actually doing so.
He wants to be at the hospital with Kotetsu, but he stays at the house, waiting for the cops and everyone else circling and snooping around to leave. If feels like an eternity when the last person leaves and the moment the door shut, Barnaby breaks down.
If he’d been there, if he’d for once told Kotetsu no, If he had truly put him in his place, none of this would have ever happened. Tomoe would still be alive and Kaede wouldn’t be at the hospital fighting for her life.
Barnaby buries his face in his hand and sobs, screams, and begs to just to wake up from this nightmare. And ten miles away, in a dimly lit waiting room, Kotetsu does the same thing.
